Buffing-machine.



J. F. GAIL.

' BUFFING MACHINE.

APPLICATION I'ILED.NOV.15, 1909.

Patented May 31, 1910.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. F. GAIL.

BUFFING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED Npv.15, 1909.-

Patented May 31, 1910.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' J. F; GAIL.

BUPFING MAOHINE.

I APPLICATION FILED NOV. 15, 1909 959,502.

' Patented May 31, 1910.

12 SHEBTSSHEET 3.

J. F. GAIL.

BUFFING MACHINE.

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Patented May 31, 1910. 12 s' EEEEEEEEEEE 4.

J. F. GAIL. BUFFING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 15, 1909.

Patented May 31, 1910.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

J; F. GAIL.

BUFFING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED 110V. 15, 1900.

Patented ma 31, 1910.

I2 SHERIFF-SHEET 6.

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BUFITING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED Nov. 15, 1909.-

Patented May 31, 1910.

12 SHEETS-SHEET '1.

J. F. GAIL.

BUFFING MAGHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.15, 1909.

Patented May 31, 1910.

I2 SHEETS-SHEET 9.

J. P. GAIL. BUFPING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 15, 1909.

959,502. Patented'MaySLlQlO.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 10.

J. F. GAIL.

BUFPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 15, 1909.

959,502.- Patented May 31, 1910.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 11.

J. F. GAIL. BUFFING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED Nov. 15, 1909.

Patented May 31, 1910.

12 SHEETS-BEBE! 12.

, ciently buff bent objects with UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN F. GAIL, 0F KENOSHA, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO THE SIMMONS MANUFACTUR- ING'COMPANY, OF KENOSHA, WISCONSIN, ACORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

BUFFING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed November 15, 1909. Serial No. 528,055.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN F. GAIL, a resident of Kenosha, in the county of Kenosha and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Buffing-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and precise specification.

My invention relates to bufiing machines for buffing objects such as curved or bent rods or tubes, and articularly for bufling long curved parts of bedsteads such asthe bow-shaped pieces forming the tops of the head and foot frames of a bedstead.

Among the salient objects of my inventionare to provide improved mechanism for bodily carrying an object through a bnfiing plane or planes and for. bodily swinging the object in accordance with its bend or curvature so that uniform application of the buffing members will result; to provide a plurality of bufling Wheels acting simulta-' neously on the object, and improved means for bodily moving the bufling wheels into and out of efiective buffing position; to provide improved means for bodily rotating the buffing wheels about the axis of the object; to provide improved electro-magnetically controlled means for/ effecting the bodily movement of the bufiing wheels into and out of effective bufling position and to adapt .the electro-magnetlc mechanism to operate at predetermined periods during buifing operation .to provide improved timed mechanism for controlling the proper sequence of operation of the various parts of the-machine; and in general to rovide a well balanced machine which wil ra idly and efiilittle expenditure of power.

In the following specification and ,accomspanying drawings I have shown a machine for carrying out the various features of my invention and particularly ada ted for handling and bufling bow-shape tubular pieces for the head and foot frames of bedsteads. I

In these drawings .-Figure 1 is a front view of the machine, Fig. 2 is arear view,

Fig. 3 is an end view taken from the left of the machine, Fig. 4 is, an end view taken from the right, Fig. 5 is a plan view of the machine, F1g. 6 is a sectional view taken from plane 6-6, Fig. 5, Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional View taken on plane 7-7,'

Figs. 1 and 2, Fig. 8 is an enlarged view taken from plane 88, Figs. .1 and 2, showing particularly engagement of rack driving mechanism with a vane cam wheel, Fig. 9 is an enlarged plan view of theleft or driving end :of the machine showing automatic driving controlling mechanisms and the mechanism for controlling the movement and drive of the rack mechanism, Fig. 10 is an enlarged rear view of the driving end of the machine showing various automatic drive controlling mechanisms, Fig. '11 is an enlarged left end view showing particularly the automatic drive controlling mechanisms, and Fig. 12 is an enlarged slde view of a vane cam wheel which cooperates with the vane cam wheel shown in Fig. 8.

Referring to Fig. 1, the bed plate 1 of the machine supports a plurality of standards 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, disposed in the same vertical .plane. Journaled at the tops of the standards 2 and 3 and in standard 4 is a shaft 7 on the left end of which just inside standard 2 is loosely pivoted a large wheel -8 havingin its surface-a peripheral cam groove 9 and gear teeth 10. Immediately to the left .of standard 3 is a vane cam wheel 11 adja cent which is a gear wheel '12, while to the .right of standard 3 is a vane cam wheel 13,

these three wheels beingsecured to a bush ing 12 receiving shaft 7 and journaled in standard 3. To the right of this vane wheel is a gear wheel 14 keyed to the shaft. To

the right of ear wheel 14 is a gear wheel .15 which is oose on the shaft and to the right of this car wheel is a smaller gear wheel 16 keyeftothe shaft, while a ooved guide wheel 17 is loose on shaft 7 etween gear wheel 16 and standard 4. J ournaled in a bracket 18 extendin from standard 4 is a pinion 19 which mes es with gear 16. At

the right end of the machine a shaft 20 is journaled in standard 5 and at the upper end of standard 6. Just within 'standar 6 this shaft has. keyed thereto a large gear wheel 21 and between this gear wheel and standard 5 the shaft supports a lar e gear 22,,a small gear 23 and a. groove guide bein loose on the shaft and the small gear whe 23 being keyed to the shaft. Jour: naled in a bracket 25 supported from standard 5 is a pinion 26 which meshes with the small gear 23.

Referring particularly to Figs. 2, 3, 7

and 9, a drive shaft 27 extends along the Patented May 31, 1 910.

wheel 24, gear wheel 22 and guide wheel 24: a

entire length of the machine at the rear thereof, this shaft being suitably journaled in bearing brackets 28 extending from the various standards 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. At the left end of the machine this shaft supports two idler pulleys 29 and 30 and a drive pulley 31, the idlers being loose on the shaft and the drive pulley being secured thereto. Pulleys 30 and 31 are engaged by forward and reverse belts 32 and 33, these belts passing through a belt shifter frame 34 which is automatically controlled in a manner to be described later. During the position of the belts shown in Fig. 2 the machine is at'rest. If the belts are shifted outwardly belt 32 becomes effective to cause forward rotation of the drive shaft and if the belts are shifted inwardly belt 33 causes reverse rotation of the drive shaft. The drive shaft carries pinions 35, 36 and 37 meshing respectivel with gears 12, 14 and 21. The main sha t also carries a pinion 38 which meshes with a gear 39 carried on the outer end of a short shaft 40-journaled at the end of a bracket 41 extending rearwardly and upwardly from standard 2 (Fig. 11). The inner end of this shaft carries a pinion ,42 which meshes with gear teeth 10 on the large cam wheel 8.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1, 3, 5, 8 and 9, a shaft 43 extends along the front of the machine parallel with shaft 27, being suitably journaled in brackets 44 extending forwardly from the various standards 2-6. This shaft carries pinions 45 and 46 meshing res ectively with the gear wheels 15' and 22. Re erriiig particularly to Fig. 9, this shaft also carries a pinion 47 which is keyed there- .to and held in position thereon by collars 48 and 49 at the endof brackets 50 and 51 extending forwardly from the standard 3, the pinion meshing with a vertical gear rack 52. The gear rack is of rectangular crosssection and its rear face bears against the front vertical surface 53 of a bearing extension 54 on standard 3 (Figs. 8 and 9). 'The rack bar is laterally shiftable along surface 53 and its shifting is controlled by a shift bar 55 bridging between bearing frames 56 and 57 receiving shaft 43, bearing frame 57 pivoting a cam roller 58 which cotiperates with the large cam wheel 8 already referred to. As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5, groove 9 does not extend entirely around the cam wheel and has an inner section 9 which extends along an arc less than ninety degrees, a middle section 9 which extends somewhat less than 180 degrees and an outer section 9 whose length is equal to that of the inner section 9. The gear rack 52 journals on one side a row of cam rollers 59 and on its other side a row of cam rollers 60 and the shift bar 55 has a rectangular pocket 61 in its outer edge for accommodating the rack bar and rollers, the rack bar bein held against the vertical guide surface 53 y a cap 62 bolted to the bar 55 and also engaging a distance with the sides of the rack bar, as best shown in Fig. 9. The inner edge of the bar 55.

passes into a channel 63 formed in extension 54 and this inner edge has an upward rectangular extension 64, the lower face of the rear edge of bar 55 engaging the floor of the channel, and the upper end of the extension 64 engaging the top of the channel so that the bar 55 is locked against vertical movement, being, however, free to move longitudinally through the channel. The front face of the extension 64 is flush with the surface 53 engaged by the rear face of the rack bar, and along the front face of the extension 64 extends vertically a tooth or key 65 which engages in the keyway 66 cut in the rear face of the rack bar. The key serves to retain the rack bar in vertical alinement and together with the cap 62 serves to connect the rack withthe shift bar 55 so that as the shift bar 55 movesalong shaft 43 the rack bar will move laterally along the guide surface 53. When the cam roller is in the inner sec-' tion 9 of groove 9 the shift bar 55 will be in its inner position and the rack bar will be in its inner position in cotiperation with the vane cam wheel 13, as shown in Fi s. 1 and 21 When the cam roller is in the middle slot section the rack bar will be shifted to an intermediate position and when the cam roller is in the outer slot section 9 the rack bar will be in its outer position in co6peration with vane cam wheel 11. The coiiperation of the rack bar with the vane cam wheels will be described in detail later.

The mechanism for supporting the object to be bufled is best shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. This mechanism is in the form of a frame whose principal parts are the members 67 and 67 which have the same longitudinal bend and curvature. as the object to be buffed. In this case the members are constructed as best shown in Fig. 6, each having a middle straight section 68 whose ends 69 and 70 extend at ri ht angles therefrom, the bends 71 and 72 aving the same radius of curvature as those of the object, one end of the object to be buffed being plainly shown in Fig. 7. The ends 69 and 70 terminate in cap pieces 73 and 74 connected together by a stiffening rod 75. The caps 73 of the members are connected together by a cross-bar 76, and the opposite caps 74 are connected together by a cross-bar 77. The left and right side members 67 and 67 are therefore connected together to form a rigid frame. The side members 67 and, 67 are provided with gear teeth 78 which extend along the entire outer side of the parts 68, 69, 70, 71 and 72, as shown, and when the supporting frame is applied to the machine the teeth of the left and right side members mesh with pinions 19 and 26 respectively, such meshing relation being ceases maintained by the grooved'roll'ers 17 and 24 respectively whose grooves'recelve the inner sides of the side member parts above men-' so that the supported object will be carried.

longitudinally through-a bufling field. The

pimons are driven upon rotation of gears 16.

and 23 which are secured to shafts 7 and 20 respectively, whose rotation is controlled by PlJI'IOIIS 36 and 37 on main driving shaft 27.

At the centers 'of-cross-bars 76 and 77 are clamped suitable supporting frames 79 and 80. The construction of frame 79 is best shown in Figs. 1 and 5, the frame being adapted for adjustable clampin on the cross-bar 76 and having a forward y extending arm terminating in a shoulder 81 and 121g 82, the upper end of the'object O to be Eu edengaging against the shoulder 81 and being held in place thereon by the plug 82. The construct on of the lower supporting frame 80 is best shown in Fig. 7, this frame being adapted for adjustable clamping en 4 gagement with the cross-bar 77 and having an arm 83 terminating in a head 84 for receiving the other end of the object O. The arm 83 is hollow and journals a .rod 85 whose outer end is threaded and engaged by a-nut-86 which nut bears against the outer end of. frame 80, so that upon turning of the nut rod 85 will be moved longitudinally in the arm 83. A chain 87 is secured at one end to the center of plug 82 and the other end of the chain is adapted to be hooked to the inner end of rod 85. Whenthe object O is to be applied to the supporting frame the chain is slipped therethrough and the ends of the object applied to the shoulder 81 and head 84 respectively, whereuponnut 86v is turned to draw out the rod 85 to thus apply tension to the chain, the result being that the object is securely rigidly held to the parts receiving its ends. When the object is thus secured to the frame. it will be parallel to the sections 68 to 72 of the side frames 67 and 67 and when these side frames are swung and carried through the machine the object iscarried through the field of the'bufling mechanism. This buffing mechanism is best shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 7 In general, a plurality of buffing wheels are individually driven by electric motors, the bu-ifing wheels being arranged adjacent each other to form a bufiing aperture or field through which the object to be buffed is carried by its sup orting frame. The motors are carried in a rame compris ing a rim 88 having a plurality of ribs 89 secured to the inner face of the rim and-extending along chordal planes. As shown,

there are four such ribs bolted to the inner face of the rim and extending toward each other and secured to each other to form four compartments 90-and a rectangular central compartment 91. Each compartment 90 accommodatesan electric motor 92 whose frame is trunnioned at the ends of arms 93 extending from a bracket 94 on the rib 89 forming the floor of the compartment. Each bracket has a dove-tail tongue 95 engaging 1n a dove-tail slot 96 of its su porting rib. An adjusting screw 97 threads into each bracket, Its outer end being pivoted in a frame 98 secured to the inner face of the rim. Each screw carries a bevel pini0n99 meshlng with a pinion 100 mounted on shaft 101 journaled in frame 98, the front end of the shaft being squared so that a tool can be applied to rotate pinion 100 and thereby screw 97 to cause longitudinal adjustment of the bracket along its supporting rib and longitudinal bodily adjustment of the motor frame. Each motor frame has an elongated bearing 102 for its armature shaft, the elongated bearings extendin through openings 103 in the rib parts forming the central compartment 91. The elongated bearings extend into compartment 91 so that buffing wheels 104 carried at the ends of the armature shafts will be adj acent' to form an aperture or field 105 through which the object is moved. The outer end of each motor frame is connected by a spring 106 with its supporting bracket, the tendency of the springs being to swing the motor frames to carry the buffing-wheels toward each other and against the'object passing through the buffing field. Each motor frame also carries a bracket 107 supporting electro-magnets 108 which when energized are bodily attracted toward the iron frame work or toward an armature 109 secured to the frame work, such attraction of the elect-ro-magnets causing rotation of the motor frames to swing or spread apart the bufling wheels; As will be shown later, electric circuits for these electro-magnets are controlled automatically at the proper time to energize the elect-ro-maguets to cause swinging apart of the bufling wheels when the ends of the object to be buffed are reached, so that the frame work supporting the object will not come in contact with the bufling wheels. In order that more uniform bufiing will result the buflingwheels should be shifted so as to engage different longitudinal areas of the object. For this purpose I provide mechanism for rotating the rim 88 about its axis through an angle which will carry the bufling wheels into different planes. To this end the rim 88 is rotationally mounted on rollers 110, 111 journaled on the machine bed, and side rollers 112, 113

suitably journaled in standards 4 and 5. The rim has the outer. peripheral. groove 114 in which these rollers engage, the rim being further guided and held in alinement by a tongue extending downwardly into groove 114 from a bridge piece 116 connecting the upper ends of standards 4 and 5. As best shown in Fig. 7, the rim also extends into channels 117 formed in standards 4 and 5, and thus the rim is securely locked in vertical alinement but adapted to rotate freely about its axis.

- The mechanism for rotating the rim is best shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 7, 9 and 10. One end of the connecting rod 118 is pivoted to the lower part of the rim, its other end bein pivoted to a crank arm 119 secured to sha t 120 carrying a worm wheel 121. This shaft is journaled in ribs 122 formed on the bed frame, the worm wheel projecting upwardly through a slot 123 in the bed frame top. A shaft 124 journaled in standards 2, 3 and 4 carries at its inner end a worm 125 meshing with worm wheel 121 and at its outer end carries driveand idler pulleys 126 and 127 respectively, with which driving belt 128 cooperates. Journaledin a bearing frame 129 secured to the bed plate is a shaft 130 extending at right angles with the worm shaft. The inner end of this shaft carries an arm 131 pivoting at its end a cam roller 132 which cotiperates with diagonall opposite cam blocks 133, 134 extending fiom the side of the worm wheel. The other end of shaft 130 carries an arm 135 set at an angle with arm 131, the end of this arm 135 pivoting to the inner end of a connecting rod 136 whose other end pivots to an intermediate point of a lever 137 pivoted at its lower end to the bed plate at 138 and its upper end carrying a cam projection 139 which engages in the vertical slot 140 of a slider frame 141 which has an upward extension 142 from the end of which extends the belt shifting bar 34 already re.-.

ferred to. Referring particularly to Figs. 9, 10 and 11, a bracket 143 extends rearwardly from the standard 2 and at its end forms a slide frame 144 having in its rear face the horizontal slide groove 145 for receiving the dove-tail tongue 146 on the slider frame 141 already referred to. Pivoted to the inner end of this slider frame is a cam roller 147 which cotiperates with the outer edge 148 of the cam plate 149 secured to the inner face of the rim of the large cam wheel 8, the approaching surface 150 for this cam plate being at the left end thereof. (Fig. 11) so that the cam roller is carried into engagement with the edge 148 when the large cam wheel rotates in clockwise direction. The adjustment is such that when the cam roller is in engagement with the edge 148 the main driving belts 32 and 33 will be in engagement with the idle pulleys (Figs. 1.

and 2), the machine-being then at rest.

In he front face of the slide block 144 is a slide groove 151 for receiving a slide bar 152. Secured to the outer end of this slide bar is a vertical belt shifting piece 125 whose lower end has the opening 154 for receiving the worm shaft driving belt 128 and whose upper end is connected by a spring 155 with a bracket 156 secured to the inner end of the slide frame 144 (Fig. 9). Pivoted at its outer end to the slide bar 152 just inside the belt shifting piece 153 is a bar 157 whose inner end pivots a cam roller 158 adapted for coiiperating with the front ed e 148 of the cam plate 149 already referre to. An arm 159 extends u wardly from the bar 157 and bends inwar ly to run parallel for a distance with the top of the bar. Pivoted to the rear side of the standard 2 is an arm 160 pivoting at its end two rollers 161 and 162 respectively, the outer roller 162 engaging in the slot 163 formed between the arm 159 and the bar 157. The upper end of the bracket 143 terminates in a bearing sleeve 164 which secures one end of a rod 165 passing through a bearing frame 166 carried on slide frame 144. Between the sleeve 164 and the bearing frame 166 is a disk 167 secured to one end of a sleeve 165' journaled in the bearing frame 166 about the rod 165. The disk has 'a notch 168 for coiiperating with the inner cam roller 161 on arm 160, a spring 169 connecting be tween the arm 160 and sleeve 164 serving to hold the roller against the periphery of the disk. When the roller 161 engages in the notch, arm 160 will be raised by the spring and bar 157 raised accordingly to lift cam roller 158 out of the plane of the cam plate 149, but when the roller leaves the notch, arm 160 and bar 157 will be held down to retain the cam roller in the path of the cam plate. The disk 167 is intermittently controlled by pawl and ratchet mechanism comprising a ratchet wheel 170 secured to the other end of sleeve 164, and a pawl arm 171 ivoted on rod 165 and carrying a pawl 1 2 for cotiperating with the teeth of the ratchet wheel, a detent pawl 173 being also provided and pivoted to standard 174 on bearing frame 166. The slide' frame 141 has a lateral extension 175 whose end is in the plane of the arm 171, a spring 176 connecting between the end of arm 171 and the frame 141 tending to hold the arm against the extension 17 5 so that as the frame 141 is reciprocated laterally arm 171 will be swung to associate pawl 172 with the ratchet wheel. When frame 141 moves outwardly the pawl is carried idly over a number of' teeth and when frame 141 is moved inwardly the pawl will cause rotation of the ratchet wheel, detent pawl 173 serving to lock the ratchet wheel against return movement. Angular advance of the ratchet wheel can be controlled by an abutment 177 adjustably clamped to the end of rod 165 to coiiperate with an arm 178 extending upwardly from the hub ."of arm 171. The ratchet wheel and notch disk will, therefore, be given an an ular advance for each reciprocation of the s ide frame 141, and dependin upon the adjustment of the abutment .177 the notch disk will rotate one complete revolution for a predetermined number of reciprocations of the belt shifting slider frame 141, and therefore, the cam roller 158 is dropped into operative osition and the worm shaft controlling be t shifted to the working. pulle once for each period of re ciprocations o the main belt shifting mechanism.

The mechanism already referred to which associatesthe lever 137 with the worm wheel cam blocks controls the outward shifting of the frame 141 to carry the forward driving belt into engagement with the driving pulley 31, while the cam roller 147 cooperating with the cam plate 149, controls the shifting lof the belts 'to the idle pulleys to stop the machine. The mechanism for shifting the belts from the forward driving direction to the reverse driving direction is best shown in Figs. 9, 10 and 11. The frame 141 has a depending pivot extension 179 carrying a cam roller 180 which is engaged by a lever 181 pivoted at an intermediate point to an extension 182 on standard 2, the inner end of the lever extending within the rim of the large cam wheel 8 and pivoting a cam roller 183. This cam roller cooperates with a cam block 184 carried by the cam wheel 8 and is engaged thereby at the proper time to cause lever 181 to be swung to shift slider frame 141 from its outer to its inner position to carry the belts from the forward driving position to a reverse driving position.

Themain driving shaft 43 at a point be tween the standard 2and the driving pulleys carries a brake wheel 185 encircled by a brake strap 186 whose one end is secured to the standard 2 (Fig. 3) and whose other end connects to the end of an arm 187 extending from a shaft 188 journaled in standard 2 and terminating at its inner end in an arm 189 carrying a cam roller 190 for cooperating withan abutment block 191 carried by a spoke of the large cam wheel 8. The

adjustment is such that at the proper time the-cam roller will be engaged by the. abutment and the brake strap bound about the brake wheel to cause sudden stopping of the machine. A spring 192 connecting between a pin 193 on standard 2 and an arm 194 extending from the crank arm 189-serves to loosen the brake stra upon disengagement of the cam roller 190 fi'om the abutment 191.

The electrical contact mechanism for controlling the circuits of the electro-magnets 108 is best shown in Figs. 9 and 10. The electro-magnets are all connected in bridge of conductors 195 and 196 (Fig. 2) which conductors lead to the terminals of a quick .switch bar 198 'terminals has pivoted to its outer end an upwardly extending arm 199 which. has two brake oil switch 197. The switchmechanrsm may be of an construction. As shown, or controlling the switch laterally extending teeth 200 and 201 and whose upper end carries a sleeve 202 having laterally extending to'oth203. A spring 204 connecting between the lower end of the arm and stationary post 205 tends to hold the switch bar 198 upwardly awayfroni the circuit switch terminals and to swing the arm 199 toward the cam plate 206 secured to the rim of the wheel 8 on the inner face thereof and overhanging the inner edge thereof. A post 207 extending upwardly from the oil switch structure 197. serves. to guide the upper end of arm 199 and has a rearwardly extending arm 208 pivoting at its end a lever 209 whose front end is normally held between teeth 200 and 201 by. force of spring 204 and whose other end is connected by a spring 210 with the post 207, this spring tending to raise the front end of lever 209 and to raise the arm 199 and switch bar 198 to close the electro-magnet circuit. Pivoted 4 .to the front end of lever 209 and extending toward the cam plate 206 is a cam roller 211 which normally engages the under side of the cam plate 206 to holdlever 209 and the 9 switch bar 198 down to close the electromagnet circuit. At its rear end the cam plate 206 has a radial projection 212 having a beveled inner end 213. Normally roller 211 engages the under side of the cam plate 1 206 and tooth 203 extends inwardly over the edge of the cam plate. When the arge cam wheel 8 rotates the beveled end 213 engages tooth 203, thereby causing arm 199 to swing away from the cam plate thereby withdrawing tooth-201 from under the lever 209, the

result being that spring 204 is free to throw up arm 199 and switch bar 198 to thereby open the electro-magnet circuit. The lever- 209, however, will not swing upwardly until its roller 211 leaves the rear end of cam plate 206. When the lever 209- swings upwardly it will again come into latching engagement with the arm 199 upon entry be tween teeth 200 and 201. When the d1rec-. tion of rotation of the cam wheel 8 is then reversed the front beveled end of the cam plate 206 will receive the roller 211 to again deflect lever 209 downwardly to restore arm 199 to its lower position and to return bar 198 to re-close' the electro-magnet circuit. The switch bar 198 and the circuit terminals are immersed in oil in the structure 197 and this together with the spring actuation of' the switch bar 198 will prevent sparking 5 and will cause efficient opening and closure of the electro-magnet circuit.

The vane cam wheels for controlling the operation of the rack bar 52 are best shown in Figs. 8 and 12. As has already been mentioned, the rack bar which coiiperates with these wheels has two sets of rollers 59 and 60, the rollers 59 extending along the lower half and from one side of the bar, and the v rollers 60 extending alon the upper half and from the other side of the bar, the two rows of rollers, however, over-lapping about three rollers. Rollers 59 cooperate with the vane cam wheel 13 when the rack bar is moved to its innermostposition, as shown in Fig. 9, and cam rollers 60 cooperate with the vane cam wheel 11 when the rack bar is moved to its outermost position, the rack bar being disengaged from both vane wheels when shifted to its intermediate position. The purpose of the rack bar and its driving cam wheels is to control carrier mechanism for assisting in the proper transmission of objects through the butting field. If the object were comparatively short and light the gears 16 and 23 together with pinions 19 and 26 and the grooved rollers 17 and 24 would be able to carry the object-supporting frame through the machine, but where the object is comparatively long and heavy, the strain would be too severe on these parts and therefore additional supporting means controlled by the rack bar and vane Wheel mechanism is provided. This additional supporting mechanism is best shown in Figs. 3, 4, 6 and 7. The large gear wheels 15 and 22 already referred to at the beginning of the specification carry respectively beams 215 and 215 these beams being parallel and bolted to their respective gear wheels along chords of these wheels so that rotation of the wheels will swing the beams about the shafts 7 and 20. As best shown in Figs. 6 and 7, each beam is in the form of an angle-bar to whose ends are secured angle-bars 217, 218 respectively, whose inner ends do not meet but which leave a gap 219. The webs of the angle bars form cam grooves 220 and 221 at the ends of each beam, which grooves coiiperate with cam rollers 222 and 223 ex tending from the cap members 73 and 74 of the object-supporting frame. Referring to Figs. 4, 6 and 7, cam rollers 222 on the upper caps 73 of the supporting frame engage respectively in the upper ends. of cam grooves 220 of beams 215 and 215 respectively, the lower cam rollers 223 being outside of the lower grooves 221. In this position the sections 68 of the side members 67 and 67 are vertical and the bends 71 and 72 are away from the pinions 19 and 26, the object, as best shown in Fig. 7, having just been inserted and ready to enter the butting field. The supporting frame must now be moved to the right (Figs. 4, 6 and 7) parallelly to bring the bends 72 into engagement with the guide rollers 17 and 24. During this movement of the supporting frame the beams must be swung to vertical position so that the lower cam rollers 223 can come into position before the lower cam grooves 221 of the beams, As the pinions 19 and 26 now engage the teeth on the bends 72 the beams should be swung toward horizontal position to rigidly balance and to synchronously carry around the upper end of the supporting frame, the lower cam rollers 223 during this movement passing into the lower grooves 221. Then the beams reach a horizontal position the sections 68 which are now horizontally disposed will be ready to travel through the machine to carry the corresponding part of the object through the bufiing field and during this movement rollers 222 and 223 move horizontally through the cam grooves 220, 221 until the bends 71 reach guide rollers 17 and 24 whereupon the beams should again be rotated to lift the free end of the supporting frame back into vertical position at. the other side of the machine. At the end of this movement the beams and the sections 68 are vertical and thereafter the supporting frame must travel parellelly to carry the bends 71 away from the guide rollers and to carry the corresponding end of the object through and from the butting field. At the end of this lateral movement of the frame, rollers 223 will have reached the outer ends of cam grooves 221 of the beams while rollers 222 will have reached the gaps 219 and will have left the beams, the supporting frame being vertical but the beams being slightly tilted. The supporting frame is now carried in reverse direction through the machine to its 100 normal position and the various positions and movements described will take place in reverse order until the parts again assume the starting positions shown in Figs. 4, 6 and 7. It is for controlling these various 105 movements of the beams that the vane wheels and rack mechanism driven thereby are utilized. I

Referring to Fig. 8, the side face of the rim of vane wheel 13 has a plurality of cam 110 vanes for cooperating with the rollers 59 on the-rack bar to raise and lower the rack bar. These vanes comprise a long vane 224 approaching from the outer to the inner edge of the rim, a shorter vane 225 approaching 5 from the outer toward the inner edge of the rim, a plurality of short vanes 226 extending between the rim edges, and a final long vane 227 extending along a radial curve for the greater part of its distance to give no no movement of the rack bar. When the cam wheel 13 rotates in clockwise direction from the position shown in Fig. 8, vanes 224 and 225 cotiperate with rollers 59 to gradually raise the rack bar a short distance and the 125 shorter vanes 226 then cotiperate with the rollers to move the rack bar downwardly, and during engagement of the vane 227 the bar remains stationary. The first upward movement of the rack is accompanied by the 139 pinions 19 and 26 are working on'the sec-- tions 68 of the supporting frame to carry the corresponding part of the object through the buffing field.

The vane cam wheel 11 is shown on Fig. 12. This wheel on its side facing the wheel 13 has along vane 228 whose outer end deflects outwardly slightly and whose inner section extends along an are centered in the wheel axis. This vane leads to a series of short vanes 229 from the end of which series a long vane 230 leads to the beginning of vane 228 and deflects inward gradually. Vane 228 guides the rollers 60 to the short vanes 229 which cause upward travel of the rack bar and swing ofthe beams to carry bends 71 through the machine, while vane 230 assists in raising the rack bar to allow inward swing of the upper ends of the beams while the sections 69 of the supporting frame are carried through the machine to carry the cones onding end of the object through the bu g field. One single vane wheel could be constructed to controlall the movements of the beams, but this wheel would have to be exceedingly large, and therefore two vane wheels are used, as described, wheel 13 controlling the rack bar and the beams during butting 'of one bend of the object and wheel 11 controlling the rack bar and the beams during bufling of the 7 other bend'of the object. After vane wheel 13 has controlled the rack bar the rack bar is shifted to a neutral position by the cam 8 and then into association with the wheel 11.

When the machine is reversed vane wheel 11 firslt controls and then'wheel 13 assumes contro I shall now trace through the machine a Normally the machine is at rest with all the parts disposed as shown in the drawings. Belts 32 and 33 are on the loose pulleys, the cam roller 147 being against the cam edge 148 149 on wheel 8 (Figs. 9, 10 and 11). Roller 58 on shift bar 55 controlling the rack bar is in the inner section 9 of 'the cam wheel 8, the rack bar being in association with vane wheel 13 and the beams being slightly inclined toward the machine from the vertical, as shown in Figs. 3,-4and 6, the objectsupporting frame being in the position indicated with'the ends of sections between its driving pinions and guide rollers. The object 0 has been. inserted in the machine,

as'shown in Fig. 7, the lower endof the oblane of the ject beingl without the bufling ames being bufling w eels and the motor of cam plate swung by the energized electro-magnets to spread the buffers apart, the electro magnet circuit being closed as the roller 211 is engaged by the cam plate 206 on wheel 8. The notch 168 of disk 167 is receiving the roller 161 and cam roller 158 is raised above the path of cam plate 149, and the worm shaft driving belt has connection with the idler pulley 127. Abutment 191 is in engagement wlth roller 190 and the brake strap s held to the brake pulley. To start the machine shift bar 34 is to the pulley .31 and the machine starts in a forward direction. Pinion 35 will rotate gear l2which controlsthe vane wheels, and pinions 36 and'37 will rotate gears 14 and 21 respectively which results in rotation of gears 16 and 23 and the pinions 19 and 26 engaged thereby whereupon the side members'67 and 67 will be driven to carry the obj cot-supporting frame inwardly. Through gears 38, 39 and 42 gear 10 on cam wheel 8 is rotated and as soon as cam block 212 on cam plate 206 (Fig. 9) strikes tooth 203 of the switch mechanism the switch bar is released and thrown upwardly to open the.

electro-magnet circuit to allow the springs 106 to become effective to swing the motor frames to carry the. bufling wheels together, this ha pening as soon as the lower end of the ob ect reaches the butting wheels, and

bulfing of the object begins. I

While the supporting frame moves inwardly vanes 224 and 225 on vane wheel 13 coiiperate with the rack -bar to raise the rack bar a sufiicient distance to cause the beams to swlng to a vertical position andto receive the lower rollers 223 on the s1(11pporting frame in the beam rooves 221, an when this position is reache the bends 72 of the pinions 19 and 26, the supporting frame being then ready to be swung from a vertical to a horizontal position. At this time, however, vanes 226 on wheel 13 have come into association with the rack bar and the rack bar is raised to rotate the beam supporting gears 15 and 22 by means of rack pinion 124, and the pinions 45 and 46 mounted on shaft 43, the beams cooperating with the pinions 19 and 26 to swing the supportingframe into vertical position. When this has been accomplished the circular part of vane 227 comes into association with the rack bar and during this association roller 58 on shift bar 55 passes into the middle section 9" of the groove on cam wheel 8, and the rack bar is shifted to its middle or neutral position away from the vane wheels, and during this position the pinions 19 and 26 act along the sections 68 of the supporting frame to carry the frame horizontally through the machine, rollers 222 and 223 of the frame passing alon grooves 220 and 222 of the horizontally isposed beams to thus guide the pulled out to carry'belt 32 -side members 67l and 67 have reached the sup orting frame, this continuing until ben s 71 of the supporting frame reach the pinions 19 and 26. Just before this osition is reached the shift bar roller 58 Wlll be carried into the outer section 9 of the cam wheel 8 to bring the radial section of vane 228 on wheel 11 into association with roller 60 on the rack bar and immediately thereafter vanes 229 cooperate with rollers 60 to move the rack bar still farther downwardly which results in movement of the beams to a vertical position at the front side of the machine, the supporting frame being then also in vertical position at the front side of the machine. Pinions 19 and 26 now act on the sections 69 of members 67 and 67 to move the supporting frame outwardly, during which time the corresponding end of the object is bufl'ed and during this movement the beams are drawn to an inclined position to guide the upper part of the frame outwardly, the vane 230 during this time cooperating with the rack bar. During this transit of the supporting frame through the machine the large cam wheel 8 was rotated in counter-clockwise direction and as soon as the end of the object leaves the bufling wheels cam block 184 on cam wheel 8 strikes cam roller 183 on lever 181 which results in inward shifting of the slider frame 141, thus causing belt 32 to be shifted to idle pulley 30 and reverse belt 33 to be shifted to driving pulley 31 whereupon the machine operates in reverse direction, the cam wheel 8 then rotating in clock-wise direction. The vane wheels and the gears 14 and 21 now rotate in the opposite direction and the supporting frame carried back through the machine to its normal position, the various cam vanes acting in opposite direction on the rack bar to cause the beams to travel back to their normal position indicated in Figs. 4 and 6. When the slider frame 141 was initially pulled outwardly to start the machine arm 171 was rotated to carry pawl 172 over the ratchet wheel 170, and when the frame 141 was shifted inwardly to reverse the machine the pawl arm was rotated in reverse direction and the ratchet wheel advanced to carry the notch 168 from roller 161, this causing bar 157 to be lowered and 'cam roller 158 brought into the path of the cam plate 149 on wheel 8. As thewheel 8 now approaches the end of its clockwise rotation roller 158 will engage the approach surface 150 and will be carried to the edge 148 of cam block 149, thus causing outward shifting of bar 157 and shifting of belt 128 from the loose to the driving worm shaft pulley 126 and the worm shaft is rotated to cause rotation of the worm wheel 121. The engagement of roller 158 with the cam plate 149 occurs immediately after the bufling wheels leave the end of the object and rotation of the worm wheel continues so long as roller 158 remains on camplate surface 148. When the roller againleaves the cam plate spring 155 will shift back frame 157 to. return the belt to the idle worm shaft ulley. At the same time when the end of the object is moved away from the butting wheels the cam plate 206 on wheel 8 engages roller 211 of the switch mechanism and causes the switch bar to be carried down to close the circuit through the electro -magnets 106 which become energized to swing the motor bodies and to spread apart the bufling wheels in order to prevent wearing away of supporting arm 83 to whose end the object is secured. At the end of this clockwise movement the various parts will again be in the normal position shown on the drawings with the exception that the slider frame 141 is at its innermost osition. hen this slider frame was shi ted inwardly lever 137 was swung rearwardly and the crank arm 131 carried downwardly into the path of the cam blocks 133, 134 on the worm wheel. The duration of rotation of the worm shaft is such that the worm wheel will be rotated 180 degrees, this rotation being transmitted through connecting rod 118 to the rim 88 so that at the end of a buffing cycle the rim is given a rotation such that butting wheels will en age different longitudinal areas of the ob ect when the object is again moved throu h the bufiing field.

Refining to Fig. 2, the worm wheel rotates in counter-clockwise direction and during this first rotation thereof cam block 134 will engage the roller 132 at the end of arm 131 to cause rotation of shaft 130 and outward movement of connecting rod 136 to swing lever 137 forwardly to thereby shift frame 141 to its outermost position to carry the belts 32 and 33 into engagement respectively with driving pulley 31 and idler pulley 29 whereafter the machine will again operate in forward direction. The motor supporting frame is, therefore, angularly shifted during the time that the end of the object is carried outwardly away from the buffing field and back to the buffing field, and

the cam blocks 133, 134 are so situated that they will cotiperate with the crank arm 131 after 90 degrees rotation of the worm wheel, or in other words, the belts will be shifted when the supporting frame reaches its outermost position. After the belts have been again shifted to their outermost position the vane wheels and gears 14 and 21 again rotate in forward direction and cam wheel 8 will rotate in counter-clockwise direction and the cycle of operations above traced is repeated. The disk 167 will hold cam roller 158 in the plane of the 'cam plate 149 until the notch 168 again reaches the roller 164. After the second counter-clockwise rotation lever 181 will be actuated to shift inwardly slider frame 141 to cause reversal of the machine and at the 

